Hygienic medicated belt.



No. 765,472. PATENTED JULY 19, 1904. T. O. GASAWAY & J. S. AYDELOTTE.HYGIENIC MEDICATED BELT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1903.

no MODEL.

\ Euuewkons; MMncowy mmo WWW/Ala amz UNITED STATES i Patented July 19,1904:.

PATENT OEEIcE.

THOMAS OLIVER GASAVVAY AND JACOB S. AYDELOTTE, OF MARION, INDIANA.

HYGIENIC MEDICATED BELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,472, dated July 19,1904.

Application filed November 20, 1903. Serial No. 181,919. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, THOMAS OLIVER GAsA- WAY and JACOB S. AYDELorrE,citizens of the United States, residing at Marion, in the county ofGrant and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements inHygienic Medicated Belts; and We do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being bad tothe accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to belts that are designed to be employed asmeans for applying either hot or cold water or other remedial agents tothe human body or to parts thereof in the treatment of various diseases,and

the invention has particular reference to belts in which liquids may beplaced and spread conveniently against the body, so as to obtain thebest results.

The object of the invention is to provide a hollow belt which may beconveniently applied and worn while the patient may move about withoutdisplacing the belt and its contents.

Another object is to provide a water-belt which may also be employed forapplying medicines to the surface of the body in either warm or coldcondition, as may be required.

The invention consists in a belt comprising a retainer for liquidshaving a fabric case adapted to absorb medicines and provided with ayielding girdle for binding the retainer to the body and also forspreading the retainer laterally, and thereby spreading the liquidtherein; and the invention also consists in the novel parts andcombination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter particularlydescribed and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts, Figure'l is an elevation of the completebelt extended; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view as on the line 1 1,showing the construction of the complete belt and also as it appearswhen partly filled with liquid in condition for use; Fig. 3, atransverse sectional view showing the complete belt as it would appearwhen applied to the body of the patient, the retainer being compressedand the liquid therein being spread out above and below the girdle; andFig. 4. shows perspectively the complete be] t as applied to the humanbody.

In construction a water-tight retainer A is provided, Which may becomposed of rubber or the like, as a vessel, and preferably it is formedof sheet-rubber turned over and. the two edges (0 and 7) cemented andlaid together, the inner sides facing one another. Different lengths aremade, some for the body and. others for the limbs and arms, and the endsare square, the whole being flat when empty, and one end is providedwith a suitable filling plug or cap B, in some cases being sufficientlylarge to receive pounded ice, the plug being placed at a corner of theretainer. A case C is provided for the retainer, and it is preferablycomposed of flannel doubled and the edges 0 and (Z thereof sewed orotherwise secompletely, except the filling-plug thereof.

Preferably the edges 0 and (Z are laid on the edges a and b of therubber and secured thereto by stitching e and the ends closed bystitching f and 9 beyond the retainer.

The yielding girdle D is composed of suitable material, preferablyflannel, as a strip doubled over to form three plies and secured to thecase C by two rows of stitching 7L and z', the girdle being nearly aslong as the case and much narrower. One end of the girdle is providedwith a buckle E or similar device, and the opposite end is provided witha perforated leather strap end F, adapted to be engaged by the buckle Efor securing the retainer in position and for producing the requiredpressure to spread the liquid in the retainer.

Not only various sizes but different shapes of belts may be provided,and obviously very broad retainers may be provided with two or moregirdles, if required.

In practical use .the retainer may be partially filled, as indicated inFig.2, the belt being inclined to become oval or circular incrosssection, and when applied tothe body with the girdle at the outerside and buckled together, either as in Fig. 4 or in an invertedposition, the girdle will force the liquid to the bottom and top of theretainer and expand the same, as at 2 and 3 in Figs. 8 and 4, yetallowing suflicient liquid to remain behind the girdle. If the water behot, the heat will be better retained at the edges of the belt by reasonof the greater volume, and if cold'it will longer remain so for the samereason than were the volume less at the edges. The case at the innerside of the belt may be saturated with liniment or other medicine andeither cooled or heated while being applied by means of water. The beltmay be also be employed as an ordinary Water-bag, and in all cases theskin will be protected and also be benefited by the flannel case, whichalso incidentally protects and tends to preserve the rubber againstdeterioration.

Having thus described the invention, what We claim-as new is 1. In abelt, the combination of a liquid-retainer, a case for the retainer, andcooperating connecting devices attached to the case and cooperatingtherewith to forcibly press portions of one side of the retainer towardportions of the opposite side thereof.

2. In a hygienic belt, the combination of a flexible girdle, securingdevices attached to the girdle, a flexible case secured to the girdleand extending beyond the sides thereof, and a flexible liquid-retainerinclosed in the case and extending laterally beyond the planes of thesides of the girdle and having a filling-plug extending through thecase.

3. In a hygienic belt, the combination of a liquid-retainer composed ofsheet-rubber doubled over and the edges thereof secured to-

